Sunday, April 3, 2011

Road Trip!

Now I know why they film Project Runway in New York City! It's huge, busy, and full of great fabric warehouses :D 

My friend Sarah and I had a great time in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey over her Spring Break from Culinary School. Other than spending time with Sarah, my main object of the trip was to purchase fabric for my sewing business because there really isn't much in my area of the country for apparel sewing. 
Sarah and I had fun shopping and doing the whole tourist thing in Pennsylvania. We went to the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Factory, which is the oldest pretzel bakery in the U.S., Wilbur Chocolates, and several cool little shops. This photo was taken at the pretzel bakery, after of course we had our freshly baked, hand made soft pretzels. They were really delicious!


After spending a few days with Sarah's brother and his family we went to NCY for a day to SHOP and EAT!!!! Mood Fabrics was the first warehouse that we went to and I have to confess I felt REALLY overwhelmed when we walked in the door! We didn't have a lot of time, so I went in praying that the Lord would help me find the things that I needed to. Sarah and a friend who went with us helped me pick out fabric and I am SO grateful their help and the great fabric that we were able to find. They then helped me lug it all over the city for the remainder of our time there. You guys are wonderful, thank you again!
Hailing a cab
Two things:
1- Yes, I am aware that there is a big kinda scary looking dude looking over my shoulder, but he's with us.
2- No, we did not get into the Cash Cab.
Mood!!!!!

B & J was the other warehouse that we went to. (I had to tackle this one on my own however as there was a comfy couch that was calling to the non-fabric-junkies … we forgot to get a picture of them lounging!)



These Walk of Fame thing-ies all over the sidewalk were a really cool part of the Fashion District in NY.

One of my favorite designers!
 I just couldn't resist staking my spot on the Walk of Fame :P


Claiming my spot on the Fashion Walk of Fame!
My friends are going to pull an "I told you so!" because my feet were killing me before the end of the day and I'm actually admitting it, but I wore heels to walk around the city in! They were the perfect companion to my little black dress :)

Coppola's Restaurant
While I was on a mission for great fabric, Sarah was determined to have one of the best meals of her life while in NYC. Being that I also love food and cooking I was not at all opposed to this! By word of mouth we found Coppola's. It was some of the best food I have ever had!! The wait staff was amazing, the food fresh, delicious, and pretty fairly priced, and the maximum seating was just over 40. We didn't even have reservations, but we called ahead and they told us to just come over and they had us seated within 5 minutes. No, I'm not going to tell you everything that we had because you would just get really jealous, but I will tell you that I had Chilean Sea Bass (go figure :P) and it was perfect!

p.s. I made the flower on Sarah's bag… just sayin'

The day after our rather busy and exciting day in New York we decided that it was time for a break, so we went to the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ. It really was a perfect day! The sun was really bright but apparently I was not because I hadn't brought any sunglasses with me! So I bought a cheap pair from one of the shops. Just look at that sky!! It was 60˚f and spent a good while walking on the beach and enjoying the warm sand between our toes, which after walking in heels the whole day prior, felt pretty amazing. 



There were even people out surfing, but I didn't get any pictures of them. Actually, almost all of these pictures are ones that Sarah took because I kept forgetting to take my camera with me. Thanks Sarah!!!


This TASTEfashion mantra was all over A.C. which Sarah and I found really cool as it is kinda what I am about with my sewing. I don't want to just make clothes. I want to create an experience that someone can wear whether it's captured in the pattern or a unique cut. And… I love to cook, but you all knew that already :)


Hyde Park, NY was our next adventure!! As I mentioned before, Sarah is in Culinary School so of course we couldn't be so close and not take the opportunity to go to the Culinary Institute of America!!



There were banners like this all over the campus that had different cooking tools on them.


We got a tour of the institute given by one of it's students and got to see several classes in session. The best part of the tour was when we got some samples of what they were working on! It was donut and truffle day and a couple of the students brought out some of their creations for us to try. They were 
delicious!

After our tour another friend of mine met us at one of CIA restaurants for lunch. Their restaurants are run by the students as part of their training. We ate at the St. Andrew's Cafe which uses local… um… everything. I had a bBeet and Citrus spring salad, Roasted Duck over a mushroom chutney on top of a Ciabatta Crustini, and Maple Creme Brulee. It was amazing. 

Then it was back to PA for some more fabric shopping and Amish country before we headed home.

Once home I jumped right into sewing and made these aprons for a fundraiser. 
I consider myself an artist and use fabric as my artistic medium and so, like most artists, I name my pieces. This first one is called "Made in Americana" and as you can see it is a pregnancy apron!!


I pleated the skits so that it lays flat if you don't have a baby belly to hold it out and made a detachable hand towel.



This is the other apron that made. "Mix it Up" I found this mixer fabric on my trip and bought about 6 yards of it to make aprons with. 



I made the strings extra long so that they wrap around and tie in the front for a fun flirty look and I really like the yoke waist!  
    


Well, I hope you've had a small fraction of the fun reading this that I had while on my trip and making theses aprons!
I hope my next update won't take nearly as long to post as this one did, but I'm learning not to make promises of that kind :)

~ Claire ~

5 comments:

  1. Excellent post! I can't wait to see more of your creations! Someday you'll have to take me to NYC!

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  2. Looks like you had a blast! I enjoyed reading your post and seeing the pics. And you go, girl. You looked amazing for your day in NYC!!! Who cares about the blisters anyway? They'll fade!
    Sharon

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  3. I love the aprons dear friend :)

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  4. The aprons are adorable! You do a great job!

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  5. Thanks guys :) I have a lot of fun making them.

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